In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

In a post earlier this week, I discussed the Florida Legislature’s attempt to address an obstacle faced by citizens as they try to prepare for emergencies — storing prescription medicine. In last weekend’s New York Times Magazine, there was an article, “Are You Ready For The Next Disaster,” by Eric Klinenberg that describes the range of other impediments that [...]

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An email from a new reader, Jo from London reminded me that I had meant to post the 2006 Report of the London Assembly’s 7 July Review Committee, which was set up to examine the lessons to be learned from the authorities’ response to the London bombings on July 7th, 2005.  
Though it is now two years old, the Report [...]

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On the train back from Washington last week, I was riveted to my iPod watching one of the best hours of television I’ve seen in a long time – the first segment of “Carrier,” PBS’ 10-part documentary, which follows a six-month deployment of the USS Nimitz to the Persian Gulf.
The episode is wonderful – informative, funny, inspiring, frank, and beautifully shot. There [...]

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The valiant efforts of the civilian responders in Cedar Falls, Iowa provides yet another example of how average citizens come together and rise to the occasion in major disaster situations. On the Security Debrief blog, Rich Cooper offers a nice tribute and offers the important reminder that even those of us not in currently harm’s way should not miss this “teaching moment”:
“…pay close attention to what is [...]

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At the end of Mayor Bloomberg’s Gracie Mansion reception Wednesday night marking the 5th Anniversary of the City’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program, his staffers handed out “Million Trees NYC” pamphlets promoting the Parks Department’s initiative to plant a million trees over the next decade. Whether it was intentional or not, this was a rare time where [...]

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The deadly tornado that killed four Boy Scouts on Wednesday night in Iowa was a story of both terrible tragedy and heroicism and teamwork under great duress on the part of the Scouts and their leaders.
As Iowa Governor Chet Culver said yesterday, “These young men … literally saved lives during this time period when emergency management could [...]

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